Martin County property values continue to rise, but at a much slower rate than in years past, according to the Property Appraiser’s Office.
The market value of property across the county, which reflects its sale price, was up 1.8% in 2025. But that’s down from double-digit growth in 2021 and 2022. Increases in market value now have declined for the fourth consecutive year following strong years for the residential market after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to property appraiser data.
People were coming to Florida from states where their businesses were closing, and they were getting cash for their houses and buying up the inventory here, Martin County Property Appraiser Jenny Fields said.
Homes “were basically flying off the shelf, sight unseen,” Fields said. “They were just buying them based on what they saw on the internet.”
Prices went up because there was such an influx of buyers to the state, she added.
Insight into the market came as part of the preliminary tax roll, released May 29. By law, the property appraiser must provide Martin County taxing authorities — cities, towns, the school district and others — with that data by June 1 each year. It reflects the value of all property across the county on Jan. 1.
The information is used to help the agencies develop their 2026-2027 budgets.
The 1.8% growth in 2025 is down from 5.5% in 2024, 6.5% in 2023 and 19.4% in 2022. Growth in 2024 was 8.4% if the market value of the Discovery development, previously known as Atlantic Fields, is included, Fields said.
“Discovery had a huge impact,” Chief Deputy Property Appraiser Karl Andersson said. But it was an anomaly, Fields said.
Martin County had about 98,500 properties on the tax roll in 2025 and about 77,000 are residential, Andersson told TCPalm.
Taxable value of property
The taxable value of property in the county is also still growing, and at a higher rate than the market value, data from the Property Appraiser’s Office shows. The taxable value is up 5.9% over 2024.
That could mean higher taxes for property owners.
But property taxes are also based on the tax rate set by the municipality in which the home or property is located. So if municipalities lower the tax rate enough, taxes could decline. Municipalities will be setting their tax rates in the coming months.
A higher taxable value of property in the county might also mean more revenue for county coffers and more county services, depending on the tax rate.
The taxable value of property countywide was $41.6 billion last year, and $29.4 billion in the unincorporated part of the county.
The market value rose to $62.7 billion.
Growth, declines by municipality
In the wealthy towns of Jupiter Island and Sewall’s Point, the taxable and market value of property rose more than other municipalities in 2025.
In Jupiter Island, both were up more than 11% from 2024 to $4.4 billion and $6.3 billion, respectively. In Sewall’s Point, they were up more than 7% to $1.1 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively. Modest growth or even declines occurred elsewhere.
The market value of property in Ocean Breeze dropped 2% to $115.1 million compared with 2024. The taxable value of Ocean Breeze property rose 1.6% to $96.7 million. Ocean Breeze was the only municipality to see a decline in either market or taxable values.
The market value of property was up 2.7% to $2.9 billion in Indiantown in 2025 thanks in part to 110 completed homes in the Terra Lago community. In Stuart, which is mostly built out, the market value of property rose less than 1% to $5.6 billion last year.
Impact of statewide changes to property taxes
Last year, half of the Homestead Exemption increased for qualified homeowners, from $25,000 to $25,722, making the total exemption $50,722, due to the passage of Amendment 5 in the 2024 General Election.
That addition to the state constitution increases the Homestead exemption annually at a rate tied to inflation. This year, the second half is due to increase to $26,411, making the total exemption $51,411.
Additionally, Gov. Ron DeSantis recently proposed increasing the Homestead Exemption to $250,000. However, that plan still requires approval from both the Legislature and voters, and would not go into effect until 2027.
Keith Burbank is TCPalm’s watchdog reporter covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com and at 720-288-6882. TCPalm Reporter Wicker Perlis contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Property value growth has declined for four years in Florida county
Reporting by Keith Burbank, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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